Another day another attempted murder suicide:
A domestic dispute turned deadly Monday night when a man shot his ex-wife, then turned the gun on himself.
According to Lt. Brenda Cambra, at 7:10 p.m., the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station received several 9-1-1 calls reporting gunfire in the area of the 23800 block of Del Monte Drive, in the Santa Fe condominium complex near McBean Parkway and Del Monte Drive in Valencia.
When deputies arrived, they heard what turned out to be the final gunshot and found a man lying on the ground of a parking lot, bleeding from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A handgun was found next to the man.
Residents in the complex then led deputies to a woman who had been shot multiple times. She had been removed from the common area of the complex near the mailboxes where the attack occurred and taken to a condo by neighbors to protect her and allow them to provide aid.
Both victims were transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for treatment of their injuries and the man died at the hospital.
Cambra said that the couple were divorced and it appeared that the fight was a domestic dispute. Their identities are being withheld until notifications can be made.
This is the third major & deadly incident of domestic violence in the SCV in as many months. First a Canyon Country woman was beat to death by her husband, who then hung himself, then an 18 year old Bowman high student was allegedly strangled to death by her 22 year old boyfriend, and now this.
Fortunately in this case the victim appears to have survived, thanks in part to other heroic residents of the condo complex, who may have hidden the victim from the shooter.
I know the media reports this ad infinitum, but it bears repeating here. Domestic violence increases during economic downturns, at least according to the experts. Here’s a Boston Globe article from late last year:
Economic stresses often lead to more frequent abuse, more violent abuse, and more dangerous abuse when domestic violence already exists. Domestic violence programs report that victims experience an increase in abuse in part because out-of-work abusers have more opportunity to batter. Rhode Island, for example, has recently seen a 25 percent increase in felony-level domestic violence crimes. Victims end up with fewer opportunities to contact programs for help, attend support groups, or get away from the batterer.
Compounding the problem, domestic violence programs face a trio of economic factors - cuts in federal funding, increased demand for services, and decreased private donations as people lose their jobs or see a downturn in their personal finances. These budget constraints make it more difficult for local programs to meet the needs of their communities.
In 2007, the National Network to End Domestic Violence conducted its second annual 24-hour census of domestic violence shelters and programs across the nation. The census report found that in one day, more than 53,000 women, men, and children across the country received services from domestic violence programs. Over 25,000 of those individuals - more than half were children - found refuge in emergency domestic violence shelters or transitional housing.
I was glad to see our Domestic Violence center get attention in the media recently, thanks to Assemblyman Smyth’s efforts to fund it and other centers like it throughout the state. I was also happy to see that the center now has a PayPal link on their homepage, making it easy to donate funds if you care to do so.